Whether you fall off your bike and scrape your knee, or knick your finger cutting onions, you know it’s only a matter of time before your injury has scabbed and healed.

But what really just happened – how did your wound actually mend?

Using a student-designed software program called MEDUSA, as well as a special type of microscope and a method called fluorescent tagging, a group of researchers from the Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering (IBBME) at U of T have been studying just that.

Published recently in the journal Development, they speculate that they’ve uncovered how some of the fastest wound healers – the embryos of fruit flies – get the job done, in hopes of using their findings to develop medical therapies that aid healing in the future.

Watching wounds mend

In a typical embryonic wound, a cable-like, cellular structure slowly draws in on itself, eventually closing off the wound in much the same way that a string bag closes. Second-year PhD candidate Teresa Zulueta-Coarasa (PhD IBBME 1T6) examined this behaviour in “normal’ and “mutant” fruit fly embryos.

The goal: to measure how quickly wounds heal over time and what mechanisms lie behind that healing.

It’s an incredibly laborious process. To determine the rate of healing in a single embryo, researchers measure the wound area on each and every frame of a film captured by confocal microscopy. Typically, this involves drawing a polygon shape on the borders of the wound onto hundreds of film images.

To speed the process of discovery, Zulueta-Coarasa developed the MEDUSA software program. The program employs algorithms to automatically find the borders of the wound in a single time frame of film. The resulting contour is then transferred onto the adjacent time frames and fitted to the individual images, making the analysis process for these large amounts of data far more efficient.

The team employed fluorescently-tagged proteins in order to sleuth out the mechanisms behind healing. Molecules that tended to gather around the wound edges increased in intensity, allowing the researchers to

identify specific molecules involved in the healing process.

“We found that for certain proteins, the intensity of the molecule in the wound margin increased rapidly, [suggesting that] those molecules are important to the wound healing process,” said Zulueta-Coarasa.

Helping with healing – from diabetes to cancer

The findings may one day play an important role for those suffering from diabetes or other circulation-related illnesses.

“Patients with chronic wounds heal really slowly or not at all,” explained Zulueta-Coarasa, “but if we could understand why wounds heal so fast in these [fly] embryos, we could develop a strategy to heal them.”

But what surprised the researchers most is that the study may have uncovered a parallel between wound healing and the metastasis of certain cancers.

One of the proteins the researchers saw double in intensity around the wound is called Abelson kinase, or Abl. According to Zulueta-Coarasa, “We have been able to discover that, in mutant embryos without that molecule, wounds still heal – but at a much slower rate.”

Abl, however, is a molecule more commonly associated with metastatic cancers.

“From a biomedical perspective,” explained Assistant Professor Rodrigo Fernandez-Gonzalez (IBBME), corresponding author on the paper, “the identification of a role for the protein Abl in coordinated cell migration [during wound healing] generates new hypotheses about its role in metastasis.”

“Abl activation is associated with invasive breast cancer, in which small groups of cells can coordinate their migratory behaviours to spread disease,” he added.

Though intriguing, the connection between the molecule’s role in speeding up the healing process and spreading cancer remains a mystery. “The actual mechanisms by which Abl promotes metastasis are unclear,” said Fernandez-Gonzalez.

For now, the team hopes to better understand the science behind the healing process, one tiny nick at a time.

 

For Jiaxin (Jansin) Cai (IndE 1T7), a summer exchange in Beijing, China is more than just extra credit: it’s a chance to experience his home in a whole new way.

Cai – an industrial engineering undergraduate at U of T– is one of six Engineering students to participate in this year’s Global Educational Exchange (Globex). With courses running from July 7 – 26 at China’s Peking University (PKU), the program encourages student exchanges and research collaboration between PKU and 21 engineering schools from around the world.

“I have never experienced higher education in China,” said Cai. “One of the reasons why I came to Canada for study was to learn more about a different culture. Similarly, even though China is my home country, I have never been to Beijing where the enriched Chinese culture originates.”

The University of Toronto, through the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering (MIE), joined Globex last year as the program’s first Canadian partner.

Professor Kamran Behdinan (MIE), NSERC Chair in Multidisciplinary Engineering Design, is teaching a course in this year’s exchange, Applied Finite Element Technology, to 34 students from countries including Australia, China, Japan and the United States.

“Globex is a remarkable opportunity for students to collaborate in an international classroom, in a truly international setting,” said Behdinan. “It’s also a chance for us to share a part of our program curriculum with global learners.”

Another Globex student, Jiaxin Fan (MechE 1T7), is participating in a course called China’s Economy: Technology, Growth and Global Connections, taught by Professor Susan Mays of the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

In addition to her courses, Fan is planning to soak up Chinese culture – especially the food – while in Beijing, including a visit to the iconic “Bird’s Nest” Beijing National Stadium.

“I applied to the Globex because I’m interested in traveling around the world,” Fan said. “Globex [is] an excellent opportunity for me to broaden my horizons.”

 

Occurring annually, Globex is designed to deepen partnerships between institutions by offering a framework for exceptional students and faculty to attain a global educational, research and professional experience. The 21 other partner universities this year include the University of Cambridge, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, University of Melbourne and Yokohama National University.

The deadline for applications is typically in March each year. More information can be found on the MIE website.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Planning a flight during the winter holidays? Sometimes Canada’s frigid winters can leave you waiting in the airport for hours – or even days – longer than you anticipated.

One of the biggest culprits for these delays is the additional time required to melt ice off airplane wings – something that Jason Tam (MSE 1T2 + PEY, MASc 1T4) hopes to eliminate with the development of new water-repelling materials technology.

Tam was one of 11 graduate students visiting the University of Tokyo this month for the 13^th annual UT2-COSM-GMSI (Tokyo/Toronto – Consortium on Sustainable Materials – Global Centre of Excellence in Mechanical Systems Innovation) Graduate Student Workshop.

The workshop, themed Materials for Sustainability, explored more than 20 graduate-level research areas tied to the processing of eco-friendly materials, as well as the recycling and recovery of materials from waste. Industry applications ranged from cleaner transportation – like Tam’s – to advanced medical technologies.

U of T Engineering spoke with Tam about his recent research and his time at U Tokyo:

What research are you currently working on?

My current research is focused on producing a composite coating that has exceptional hardness, strength and wear resistance. We combine a nickel-based material with Teflon – which makes the coating hydrophobic [meaning that it repels water] and reduces friction.

Due to these characteristics, there are many potential applications. For example, we could use the technology for aerospace components where high-strength and high wear resistance material is desirable. In addition, its ability to repel water will eliminate the need for aircraft de-icing in winter conditions.

How did the theme of this year’s workshop relate to your current research?

Currently, we use chemicals to de-ice airplane wings; chemicals that could eventually reach soil and water bodies and cause harm to the environment. If we were to coat all airplane wings in our composite material, we would no longer need to use these harmful sprays.

This would not only save time for travellers, but it would make air travel – already an industry with harmful side effects and a large carbon footprint – a little bit more sustainable.

What were some valuable activities you took part in at U Tokyo?

Apart from learning the current research carried out at the University of Tokyo, we toured some of their materials engineering undergraduate laboratories to experience a few of their teaching methods and techniques. This provided me with a few ideas for me to continue enhancing the learning experience for U of T Engineering undergraduates.

Furthermore, during the research laboratory tour, I found a research group that has similar research interests as the Nanomaterials Research Group at U of T. I think it’s possible for us to collaborate on a project in the near future.

What did you take away from your experience at U Tokyo?

It was truly a great experience to exchange ideas and build connections with the research groups at the University of Tokyo – which will likely facilitate collaborations on materials research in the future.

Professors Uwe Erb (MSE), Charles Jia (ChemE), and Tobin Filleter (MIE) were the faculty leads on the visit to U Tokyo, with three additional faculty members from all three departments joining them.

The workshop was supported by the Department of Materials Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Industrial Science, the Global Center of Excellence for Mechanical Systems Innovation (GMSI) at the University of Tokyo, the Consortium on Sustainable Materials (COSM), along with the three participating engineering departments from the University of Toronto.

The workshop will return to U of T Engineering next summer.

 

 

How do you design an inexpensive stove that’s better than open fires or rudimentary appliances, and then convince people halfway across the world to use it?

That’s what a multidisciplinary team of students and professors from across the University of Toronto – including U of T Engineering – went to South India to discover.

“According to the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, nearly three billion people are using solid fuels for cooking,” said the team’s lead, Mimi Liu, an undergraduate student in economics and peace, conflict and justice.

“Exposure to smoke from traditional cooking practices causes four million premature deaths per year,” she said, “and women and children are the most affected. Household fuel combustion also contributes to climate change, [and] poor households often spend a significant portion of their income on cooking fuel.”

Prakti Design, an award-winning social enterprise based in South India, is trying to do something about these issues. They’ve developed a line of household and institutional clean cookstoves that use biomass fuels from wood, charcoal and briquettes that lessen fuel consumption by up to 80 per cent, potentially eliminate air pollution and cut down cooking times by up to 70 per cent — compared to traditional three-stone fires.

“Reducing emissions in the home can improve respiratory health outcomes, especially for young children,” said Hayden Rodenkirchen, an international relations student who participated in the trip. “For families or institutions that have to buy wood, the fuel efficiency of these stoves can save them money over time. For those who have to gather wood, the fuel efficiency means fewer trips into the woods and lighter loads to carry.”

Prakti invited U of T’s Global Innovation Group — a network of professors interested in poverty and innovation in developing countries — to help research and address challenges related to clean cookstove technology, distribution and adoption. The team included: Yu-Ling Cheng, a chemical engineering professor and director of the Centre for Global Engineering; political science professor Joseph Wong, Canada Research Chair in Health and Development; Stanley Zlotkin, a nutritional sciences and pediatrics professor; and, Poornima Vinoo, a research associate at the Rotman School of Management.

Liu brought together a student research team for the trip, including chemical engineering student Tameka Deare (ChemE 1T3 + PEY), as well as Kay Dyson Tam of psychology and peace, conflict and justice, Seemi Qaiser of global health studies and Hayden Rodenkirchen.

For months before the trip to India, the student team gathered secondary research, conducted phone interviews, wrote briefings and made presentations on clean cookstove technologies, distribution models, adoption patterns and impacts.

The group then travelled to South India for approximately one week in March 2014, visiting Chennai, Puducherry and Auroville to conduct interviews with diverse stakeholders, such as users, designers, manufacturers, distributors, funders and researchers.

One memorable series of interviews involved speaking with women in their homes in villages near Puducherry. One of the students asked about the women’s experiences with wood collection, a task that occupies many women in rural areas of India for many hours a week.

“They all erupted and started shouting,” said Rodenkirchen. “All that our translator could say was ‘they really, really hate it!’”

“Women also recommended larger openings in the stoves, so they wouldn’t have to chop wood into such small pieces,” said Liu. “Clean cookstoves need to be iteratively designed with more input from end-users and sustained testing in homes.”

The group found that clean cookstoves have the greatest potential to provide cleaner cooking solutions for households in low-to-mid-range incomes. Their findings are published on the Munk School of Global Affairs website.

Wong is thrilled to have been able to give the students a global experience: “The students are able to recognize that they can, in fact, make a difference,” he said. “There are careers to be made out of social innovations like this.”

Qaiser agreed. “I wanted a chance to apply my skills and learn to evaluate a health intervention in a real-world context, and I got to do just that. It was incredible.”

The students’ research received support from the Centre for Global Engineering, the Dean’s International Initiatives Fund at the Faculty of Arts & Science and the Asian Institute at the Munk School of Global Affairs.

 

 

 

When it comes to washing dishes, the verdict may be out for “sponge versus washcloth” – but for cleaning oil spills, engineering PhD student Ali Rizvi (MIE PhD 1T4) is all sponge.

Rizvi has designed a cost-effective commercial sponge, similar to the one you’d find in your kitchen sink, which can be used in disastrous oil-spill cleanups. Using light foam, it absorbs 24 times its weight per gram in oil, and doesn’t absorb water.

Rizvi’s research and entrepreneurial acumen recently had him named as one of the “Top 30 under 30 Future Leaders in Manufacturing” by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (MSE). The prestigious title recognizes exceptional talent and leadership in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM).

Conducting his research under the supervision of Professor Chul B. Park (MIE), Canada Research Chair in Microcellular Plastics, Rizvi’s sponge technology involves a manufacturing method that is inexpensive and easy to scale.

“I pursued manufacturing engineering to facilitate the commercialization of scientific breakthroughs. If a product cannot be mass manufactured cost effectively, it will fail,” said Rizvi.

In 2013, Rizvi received funding from VentureStart through the Research & Innovation Commercialization Centre, which supports entrepreneurs in STEM fields in southern Ontario. The seed funding helped support his startup, Flarian Inc., where he is co-founder and director of manufacturing.

“Ali Rizvi is an inspirational researcher and entrepreneur, and I offer my heart-felt congratulations for this tremendous honour,” said Dean Cristina Amon. “His early career achievements demonstrate the remarkable innovation and impact of U of T engineering students as they tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges.”

In addition to creating a sponge that outperforms others in the market, Rizvi is also working on a proposal to design a device – similar to a mobile phone – that can diagnose tuberculosis in remote, electricity-free areas in third world countries.

Among his recent recognitions, Rizvi is a 2013 recipient of the NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship. In 2012, he received the Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarships in Science and Technology (QEII – GSST), DuPont Canada Scholarship in Science and Technology and was awarded the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) PerkinElmer Award Composites Division for best paper.

Read more about Rizvi at the Society of Manufacturing Engineers website.

What do Beethoven and a boulder have in common?

They both compose music. While one is enjoyed over dinner, the other could be used to predict earthquakes.

In a recent paper published in Nature Scientific Reports, three researchers from U of T Engineering unveiled a new algorithm for interpreting the sound waves emitted from rock pieces when they crack and fissure. The groundbreaking research has the potential to predict seismic activity, help extract fossil fuels and more.

In the study, PhD student Hamed Ghaffari and fellow authors, Farzine Nasseri and Professor Paul Young (all CivE), used the new algorithm to examine how rock fractures in various lab scenarios.

“When you place a log on the fire,” Ghaffari explained, “you hear the snaps and pops of the combustion of the wood. Those same principles apply to rocks and are what we use in the lab. We induce a change in the state of the material and listen to the sound it releases.”

Nasseri said the sounds give clues to where the problems – or opportunities – lie: “Every rock has a unique micro-structure mixed with fissures and pore spaces. When you apply pressure, you can hear the sound of micro-cracking in the rock and by the nature of the crackling sounds they make [you can identify] where they are and how they are moving.”

Labs producing this kind of research generally employ a more conventional method for data collection, which involves the application of force to two sides of a cylindrical rock sample.

Young and colleagues have pioneered a new method known as polyaxial loading conditions, which involves the application of force to six sides of a cubic rock sample. This more closely approximates natural earthquake conditions.

“Our lab is unique,” said Professor Young, who oversees the laboratory where Ghaffari and Nasseri conducted their research, “and [it’s] one of the few in the world that uses three dimensional stresses together with geophysical imaging to study rock fracturing dynamically. We apply a complex series of forces in our tests so that the results more closely resemble what actually happens in nature when a real earthquakes occurs.”

In both methods of force, the applied pressure induces fracture in the rock, which spreads quickly throughout the stone. The fractures release energy in the form of a seismic wave. Ghaffari interprets these wave motions using complex network theory – a method of analyzing intricate relationships using graphical data – to learn more about the physics of micro-earthquake sources.

“Earthquakes are complex; understanding the forces behind them can be even more so,” said Ghaffari. “Our lab comes closer to approximating that complexity through 3D loading.”

Despite the difficulty in understanding these complicated series of data, Ghaffari and his colleagues are passionate about finding results. The research that the lab is conducting elevates our understanding of earthquake sources, which has wide ranging implications.

“What is the motivation behind my research? I live by it,” said Ghaffari. “I can’t separate [myself] from it. It can be frustrating, but finding order in disorder, finding connections in things that initially don’t seem connected – that is perfection.

“I am fascinated by the complex networks associated with rock fracture. It is like music, listening to the sounds that rocks release when you apply pressure to them.”